Annual Clinton Fall Festival begins Friday

Thursday

Sep 27, 2012 at 4:00 PM

By David FrownfelderDaily Telegram Staff Writer

CLINTON — Arts, crafts, food, entertainment and games for kids will again mark one of the biggest events in Lenawee County. The Clinton Fall Festival, Sept. 28 to 30, will take over the town this coming weekend.

The Clinton Fall Festival features more than 200 arts and crafts booths, a classic car and motorcycle show with several hundred entries, an entertainment stage at the middle school on Franklin Street and the Grand Parade at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30. In addition to booths and displays throughout downtown Clinton and along Tecumseh and Franklin streets, Tate Park on West Michigan Avenue will be loaded with attractions and events.

In addition to the usual events, a Clinton Fall Festival Queen will be crowned for the first time. Doris Kemner, who has co-chaired the festival with her husband, Carl, for 10 years, said a queen’s pageant has been talked about for several years and will come to fruition this year.

“We have a fun-filled weekend for the entire family. We invite everybody from all over to come visit us and have a good time,” Kemner said.

Kemner said there will be a free shuttle bus service Saturday and Sunday. Shuttle buses will travel between parking lots at the Clinton United Methodist Church, 10990 Tecumseh-Clinton Highway; the former car dealership on Tecumseh Road at Clinton-Macon Highway; from Clinton High School, 340 E. Michigan Avenue; and from downtown to Tate Park. People who will be going to Tate Park are asked to use the shuttle bus. Due to all of the activities at the park, parking will be very limited, she said.

The Southern Michigan Railroad Society will run its train between Clinton and Tecumseh during the festival. The train will leave the Division Street station at 10 a.m., noon, 3 and 5 p.m., and travel to the main four corners in downtown Tecumseh. The return trip will leave Tecumseh at 11 a.m., 4 and 6 p.m. A round trip is $8 per person.

Food vendors will be scattered throughout downtown and Tate Park. In addition, local churches will have food and bake sales, Kemner said. The Clinton United Church of Christ, 300 Tecumseh Road, will have its annual roast beef dinner from 4:30 to 7 p.m., Friday.

The Grand Parade highlights the festival at 2 p.m. Sunday. The parade, which features more than 100 units, including many from the Moslem Temple Shrine, will line up on Kehoe Road and Currier Street. The parade will travel down Currier to Michigan Avenue (U.S. 12) and head through downtown Clinton to Division Street.

Scream’n Rebel Airshows will start the parade with an airshow. The Clinton and Adrian high school marching bands will provide music along the parade route along with Celtic Pipes and Drums and the Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps. Many of the usual entries will be returning this year, including Muddy and Muddonna, Toledo Mud Hens mascots; Hooper, the Detroit Pistons’ mascot; and Paws, the Detroit Tigers mascot.

“People should get there early to pick out their spots,” Kemner said.

The parade does not end the festival, though. The TCA Big Band will perform at the middle school stage at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Smith-Kimball Community Center on Tecumseh Road, across the Franklin Street from the middle school, will be a center of activity, too. Kemner said the lost arts crafters will be in the building along with live music. A petting zoo and the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum will also be set up on the grounds all weekend.

A softball tournament with men’s and women’s divisions is scheduled for all day Saturday and Sunday at Tate Park. The festival is also hosting a car show and a motorcycle show Saturday at Tate Park with proceeds to benefit Clinton soccer and girls basketball.

Registration for the car show will be taken from 9 to 11:30 a.m. the day of the show with a fee of $15. Participant voting ends at 1 p.m. and awards will be presented at 2:15 p.m. For the motorcycle show, registration begins at 10 a.m. with judging at noon.

Lost Nations Rodeo Co. will be back with the rodeo at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Tate Park. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for youth ages 6 to 13, and $5 for veterans and senior citizens.

Clinton High School alumni are invited to take part in a golf tournament Saturday. The three-person scramble will tee off at 10 a.m. at Rustic Glen Golf Course on U.S. 12 between Clinton and Saline.

Another special event will be the silent auction in St. Dominic Hall, 166 W. Michigan Ave. The bidding runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday. The auction has many services and items for sale with the proceeds going to the festival’s 2013 operating budget. The women of St. Dominic Catholic Church will be hosting a pie festival at the hall all weekend, too, Kemner said.

The Clinton United Methodist Church will have a rummage sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the church.

The Clinton Masonic Lodge will offer free child identification in the Clinton Township Hall from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day of the festival. Children will be fingerprinted at no charge.

At 11 a.m. Sunday, Sons of Thunder will have a presentation at the middle school stage. Kemner said the group promotes healthy lifestyles with strength demonstrations while incorporating anti-bullying and anti-drug messages.

Except for the parade, traffic will still flow on U.S. 12 during the festival. However, Tecumseh Road will be closed from Michigan Avenue south past the middle school on Franklin Street.

Weather forecasts are calling for partly sunny skies and autumn temperatures. Kemner said the good weather should bring big crowds all three days.